Althusser:

“All ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject.” – 1971

Althusser said that society is structured to keep you in your place & coined the phrase ‘socially constructed’. The ruling ideology (the ideas of the ruling class) constructs us. He says we cant escape, we are interpellated in this system which relates to Orientalism since the ‘other’ do not have the power to represent themselves. Ideological state apparatus (ISA) describes all the things which have an impact on us & makes us who we are, the way society encodes you is called interpellation, it shapes us, forced to look & think

In the sense of The daily mail, they has had a lot of criticizing accusations made against them such as racism, sexism and blasphemous accusations as well as clearly supporting the conservative political party who are right wing, meaning they hold traditional values. In terms of the latter, to endorse the conservative party they published an article in 2013 which criticized Ralph Milliband, father of Ed Milliband – the then labor leader, titled “The Man Who Hated Britain”. In the article, the writer Geoffrey Levy attacked Ralph as he is a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust saying that “his son was determined to bring back socialism in homage to his father.” Levy also wrote “As for the country that gave him and his family protection, the 17-year-old wrote in his diary: ‘The Englishman is a rabid nationalist.'” Ed Miliband said that the article was “ludicrously untrue”.

This antisemitism view shows how the news tries to shape our opinion and this Daily Mail article tried to boost the conservative party so more people would vote for them as well as paint the Jewish in a negative light, relating to the fact that Althssur said that the ruling ideology constructs the ‘other’ who do not have the power to represent themselves. (Orientalism)

The daily mail has had a lot of criticizing accusations made against them such as

1. Racism accusations
2. Homophobia accusations
3. Sexism accusation
4. Reliability, especially regarding health
5. Power over politicians

“Immigrant-bashing, woman-hating, Muslim-smearing, NHS-undermining, gay-baiting” is how a critic described the daily mail on intelligence2.com who are partners with New York Times.

Racism – In 2012, a former Daily Mail reporter stated that “there’s institutional racism” at the Daily Mail, meaning that is racism embedded as normal practice within this organization.

Sexism – The mail scold any female celebrity trying to empower women for ‘trying to have it all’ and any one who ‘dares to bare’ at the beach is criticized and shamed about her body.

Reliability – The mail loves a good health scare. For example, according to the mail, 116 items cause cancer

Politics – Ministers may ask themselves “What would the Mail say?” when considering any new policy as The Daily Mail determines the public’s opinion on said policy.

Althusser:

“All ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject.” – 1971

Althusser said that society is structured to keep you in your place & coined the phrase ‘socially constructed’. The ruling ideology (the ideas of the ruling class) constructs us. He says we cant escape, we are interpellated in this system which relates to Orientalism since the ‘other’ do not have the power to represent themselves.

Noam Chomsky:

“A political economy perspective has sometimes tended towards ‘conspiracy theory’”

Chomsky came up with the idea of manufacturing consent which states the mass media has the power to use propaganda to persuade the public. He would say all news is fake. This relates to the idea of media setting an agenda. Agenda setting is the creation of the public awareness & concerns the big issues by the news media which links to conditions of consumption which means the media actually decides how the mass audiences interpret it.

Habermas:

He came up with the idea of the media as ‘watchdog’, meaning that the media acts in the public sphere in the public interest. He believed democracy depended on the public and came up with the theory of the public sphere which is an area in social life where people can come together to freely discuss and identify problems. This could possibly influence political action.

James Curran & Seaton:

“The best way to organise the core media sector is to entrust them to public service organizations.”

“public service broadcasting organizations tend to be unduly influenced by the political class.”

James Curran wrote ‘Mass Media and Democracy’ which focuses on Habermas and his idea of the public sphere. He argued that the developments in education and the mass media made it simpler to access information related to the government, authority & control.

Gramsci:

He wrote about hegemony which means the ruling class can manipulate societies views.

Quotes for the theory of liberal press (James Curren)

1. “The assumption that ‘anyone’ is free to start a new paper has been an illusion ever since the industrialization of the press.”
2. “Can the freedom of the press, be equated with the freedom of conglomerates, owning much of the press, to promote their business interests?”
3. “Since the Commission’s report, most large press groups have refocused their activities on communications, though many still retain some non-media interests.”
4. “Newspapers have poured money into developing news sites, thereby pre-empting the rise of rivals.”
5. “The voices calling for change where thus marginalized.”

Quotes for the role of public servie broadcasting:

1. “The principle of public service… was not the paternalistic and abstract rule which critics have suggested.”
2. “Broadcasters have often failed to perceive the public interest &, even more frequently, have been too acquiescent to political pressure.”
3. “…broadcasters’ institutionalized caution

3 types of media ownership: (media as a commodity)

• capitalist media – wants money
• public service media – informs public
• civil society media – independent

• Previously ‘Oh Comely’
• Part of a development in lifestyle/environmental movements of 21st century = re brand consumerism as an ethical movement
• A representation of femininity = feminist movement, celebrates authenticity and empowerment
• An independent magazine by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher (in contrast to men’s health)
• Alternative Institutional structure
• So this is a case study of Iceberg as an independent media company
• New technology means that small companies can use the internet to communicate/target audiences
• It presents new strategies for institutional development and creative working practice
• Iceberg suggests ways for keeping print popular and relevant as it commits to print over other media forms
• Representations of gender mostly femininity but can affect the representation of men
• Comparison with Men’s Health
• Oh – representation of femininity with its focus on creativity and quirkiness
• Focus of women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians etc
• Female empowerment = major theme
• The absence of men as part of the representation of masculinity
• Social groups – lifestyle through focus on culture and environment
• Theorists – bell hooks and Van Zoonen

• Media concentration / Conglomerates – A huge business that owns multiple companies who are involved in aspects media eg. tv and film.
• Globalisation – The worldwide integration of media through the cross-cultural exchange of ideas.
• Vertical Integration – an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that company
• Horizontal Integration – the process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain.
• Gatekeepers – The process through which information is filtered for dissemination (the action of spreading information widely)
• Regulation / Deregulation – rules enforced by the jurisdiction of laws for media use differ across the world / refers to the process of removing or loosening government restrictions on the ownership, this helps them get more money of media outlets.
• Free market VS Monopolies & Mergers – an economic system based on supply and demand with little or no government control VS several parts of a company coming together, they control this with rules from the government (laws). Some governments deregulates to get more money e.g. taxes
• Neoliberalism – Deals with economic ideas about free markets.
• Surveillance / Privacy / Security / GDPR – all used to protect or watch the public

Murdoch media empire

David Hesmondhalgh

• he analyses the relationship between media work and the media industry
• highlights ‘myth-making’ surrounding the digital future for teenagers, criticising the desire to pursue a career in the industry

Media Working Practices

a) promotion, success & financial rewards – no promotion = no success, no reward AND no success = no promotion. Bombshell – Kayla wanted a promotion, she tried to work her way up but Roger Allies took advantage of her & his higher position.

b) journalistic practices – Journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, refuse gifts, favors & fees etc, links to Murdoch Dynasty & Rebekah Wade who said she paid the police for information. Hesmondhalgh would agree that media inst a good business to work in due to the myths that can be created.

Girls in bombshell could be considered ‘the other’ (Edward Siedd) as they are all pretty, wore short dresses, had to show their legs etc. Gramci also said that we are not trapped within this representation, the women showed this by standing up to a higher power & walking away.

• Theory about the present, linked to communications ect.
• Referential – it refers to others things & sometimes its self [“The pleasure is finding out what is going to happen next”]
• film is fragmentary but connected, pm says the world is like this
• characterized by parody (imitates something else) & pastiche (a work of art ect)
• pm says there is nothing new, we are just representing something that already exists in a different way (film is a detective story but we have not seen it presented in this way)
• meta narrative – the big story/picture, film refers to lack of this (Natalie says notes are unreliable. It is about facts, what happens if we don’t know anything? In reality we don’t know fact from fiction.)
• fragmented identity construction – multiple identity, whats real whats authentic? (Natalie)
• key characteristic = development of fragmented alienated individuals living precariously in fragmented societies
• post modern culture is linked to consumer culture (winner in the film is a large incorporation, people are expendable)

• narrative theory looks at recognizable and familiar structures
• narratives are a combination of many individual elements which are edited (connected) together.
• theme, space, time
• most narratives are linear & sequential & beginning, middle and end

• levi strauss – binary oppositions (themes eg truth)
• stories have a meta purpose
• provide moral codes
• reactionary and radical
• character types – stock

STORY = themes and meaning that can be decoded from all of the different elements that are used (the characters, setting, props and themes)

PLOT = way in which the story (elements/themes/ideas/meaning) is organised and sequenced. 

Tztevan Todorov = turned begging middle & end into equilibrium, disruption & new equilibrium

flashback flashforward

Half of the film is color & half is black & white = parallel narrative, inter cut

an enigma code (enigma = puzzle) memento – the book he burns. Film is almost talking about its self

light & shade – abstract terms, light = little jokes, dark = plot, release tension

elision & ellipsis = elements that are missing, leaving things out

• An approach to understanding, a philosophy, a way of seeing the world
• Music videos are ‘post modern’
• fragmentary set of inter-relationships
• not very secure,complicated
• about copying and re-imagining
• links to intersectionality
• pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist
• parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony
• intertextuality – one text is referencing another
• so there is a focus on surface signs
• a sense of play, about gestures
• “[music videos] their preoccupation with visual style…” – Shuker
• The fragmentary, decentred nature of music videos break up traditional understanding
• Audiences are “no longer able to distinguish ‘fiction’ from ‘reality’ part of the postmodern condition” (ibid)
• Essentially the music video is a commercial tool to sell music products “making them part of a blatantly consumerist culture” (ibid)
• There is a link with fragment identity and the drive to make people buy more things
• Bricolage is a term that applies to postmodernist texts as it “involves the rearrangement and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signs to produce new codes of meaning” – Barker & Jane
• If it the priority is play, then emphasis is on the surface, therefore style over substance
• “In a postmodern world, surfaces and style become the most important defining features” – Strinati
• Richard Hoggart  – a shift in technological culture, the impact on our ‘neighborhood lives’, everything was local
• However, during the twentieth century the population went from 2 to 6 billion people, who are are characterised by consumption more than production
• Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities
• Postmodern culture is consumer culture
• The development of fragmented, alienated individuals living precariously in fragmented societies
• The loss of metanarrative (meta= big/overall)
• From a societal perspective the ‘real’ seems to be imploding in on itself, a “process leading to the collapse of boundaries between the real and simulations” – Barker & Emma
• Jean Baudrillard would describe as ‘implosion’ which gives rise to what he terms ‘simulacra’
• A simulation has become more than a representation or simulation and it has become simulacrum not just a representation of the real, but the real itself – hyperreality

1. Pastiche = something that imitates the work of a previous artist
2. Parody = is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony
3. Bricolage = construction or creation from a diverse range of available things
4. Intertextuality = the relationship between texts, especially literary ones
5. Metanarrative = the relationship between texts, especially literary ones
6. Hyperreality = is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality
7. Simulacrum = an image or representation of someone or something
8. Consumerist Society = one in which people devote a great deal of time, energy, resources and thought to “consuming”
9. Fragmentary Identities
10. Implosion
11. cultural appropriation
12. Reflexivity

• Edward Said – Links culture, imperial power & colonialism
• “The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism.” Edward Said – Culture and Imperialism, 1993
• imperialism is economic, normalise this through culture
• Postcolonialism operates a series of signs maintaining the European-Atlantic power over the Orient by creating “an accepted grid for filtering through the Orient into Western consciousness” – Edward Said – 1978
• “The East is seen as a fascinating realm of the exotic, the mystical and the seductive.” – Barry, 2017
• The west has duality – it can create itself and others
• the media is not neutral
• Europe is made to seem better
• Orientalism related to the rising and setting of the dun – relates to binary opposite
• Orientalism makes the middle east seem anything from erotic to dangerous
• Could be considered stereotyping
• Production of culture affects worldviews
  • The Orient as ‘The other’
  • “We cannot actually see ourselves as whole, we use a reflection to understand who we are / who we are not” – Jacque Lacan
  • The mirror stage – our first recognition, we use our reflection to understand who we are. We are exploring ourselves as ‘the other’
• Louis Althusser: ISA’s & the notion of ‘Interpellation’
• Ideological state apparatus (ISA), 
• “All ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject.” – Althusser – 1971
• Society is structured to keep you in your place – socially constructed
• The ruling ideology constructs us (the ideas of the ruling class)
• Althusser says we cant escape, we are interpellated in this system
• Frantz Fanon – wrote about how white men pointed out his blackness, he articulated how a black man living in france was constructed as ‘The Other’
• He said we need recolonisation – colonised people need to take back their past
• Fanon presents 3 phases of action ‘which traces the work of native writers’:

• Chinua Achebe – “somewhat unfinished European who with patience guidance will grow up one day and write like every other European” – 1988
  • Antonio Gramsci – Hegemonic struggle the chance to reclaim
  • About fighting the power
  • N-word an example of reclaiming language and identity
  • How certain cultural forms predominate over others, which means that certain ideas are more influential than others
  • But the power can change, it can change through culture
  • Post colonialism articulates a desire to reclaim, re-write and re-establish cultural identity and thus maintain power of The Empire 
• Syncretism, double consciousness & hybridization
• Mechanisms for understanding cross-cultural identities
• Paul Gilroy
• ‘hybridity’, ‘ambiguity’ and ‘cultural poly valency’ within post colonialism
• ‘cross-cultural’ interactions
• ‘identity as ‘doubled, or ‘hybrid’, or ‘unstable’
• ‘unstable’ as in less clear
• Ghost town = eclectic mix + double consciousness
• “narrative of white supremacist was created” – justice initiative
  • black British – David Olusoga
  • Paul Gilroy – double consciousness, involves black Atlantic, duality, hybridization e.g. black British, not just British
  • terms “hybridization” & “double consciousness” came from W.E.B Du Bois

• LTTF & GT explore something that didn’t exist in the past – representation of age, class, gender, race etc.
• Media is not reflecting society, why people believe stereotypes
• no black in the union jack
• Lacan says we need a mirror to understand who we are
• Orientalism – Eward Siedd
• the orient cannot represent itself, there is a dominant culture. They don’t have the power to the west represents it
• link w culture & violence
• Through art, literature, narrative etc shows how the west painted the orient
• identity formation is formed by looking at things, what were told
• not everyone has the power to create a narrative for themselves so they have stories ted about them
• Althusser – ideological state apparatus (ISA) describes all the things which have an impact on us & makes us who we are
• the way society encodes you is called interpellation, it shapes us, forced to look & think
• For example, blackface. They are scared of black people rising up & taking power
• Gramsci – tuck of war over representation, we are not trapped. We can show this through music & video
• we can change these set ideas through music, video, literature, TV etc